This blog posts a three to five minute homily ideas for Sundays readings.

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Twenty Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B

Readings: Wis 7:7-11; Heb 4:12-13; Mk 10:17-30

The
best way to live, the wisdom of the gospel, detachment from wealth and simplicity
of life are the key words that help to capture the central message of this
Sunday. In October 2014, Pope Francis suspended a bishop in Europe over the
cost of his home renovation, highlighting the need for church leaders to live a
simple life. The bishop had spent some $40 million to improve his private
residence, including installing a $20,000 bathtub. Such a display was not the
best way to live and he would not obviously smell like the sheep. I cite this
example because in the gospel Jesus shows a rich man the best way to live by
giving up his wealth. The rich man saw the price tag of following Jesus which
meant going all the way to the Cross where one gives up everything. He had kept
God’s commands since his youth, and Jesus looked at him with love. An ideal
person, you would think, to receive the gospel. Yet Jesus wanted to show him
something about himself of which he was totally unaware. He was no longer free
because his wealth had come to possess him rather than he owning it. Jesus
invited him to free himself, but the cost seemed just too high. In other words
following Jesus is more than just keeping the Commandments; it means embracing
the sacrifice it entails.

There is nothing
wrong with money as such, or even with being wealthy. Some of the world’s
greatest people who did most for the welfare of humanity, have been wealthy
people. But at a deeper level, at the end of the day I own absolutely nothing.
All is a generous gift from God. My hold on things is provisional, temporary. A
sudden stroke or a heart attack, and I am separated forever from all my worldly
possessions. How hard it is for people who are weighed down by possessions to
enter the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom belongs to the childlike who have nothing
to worry about. It belongs to the poor in spirit; not so much economically
poor, but detached from riches in their inmost spirit.

Then there are
some who give up everything to follow Jesus. He doesn’t call everybody to do
this. He didn’t ask Lazarus or his sisters to leave home and follow him. But
being a follower of Jesus does mean having to leave something. It
involves a change of priorities, a new way of valuing things, an interest in the
riches that are stored up in heaven, “where moth cannot consume, nor rust
corrode.” Those who leave everything to follow Jesus are among the most blessed
of people, dedicated souls like Francis of Assisi, Mother Teresa of Calcutta
and many other unsung heroes. Such people are blessed with the riches of God’s
grace, and bring much blessing to the lives of others. So what message do we
take home this Sunday? 1) Jesus shows the rich man the best way to be
transformed so that he can let go and find eternal life. 2) Jesus invites us to
free ourselves from attachment to material possessions so that they do not
possess us. 3) Possessions in themselves are not an obstacle to following
Jesus. The bottom line is whether we are willing to let go a mediocre way of
life by choosing the best way to live.